Customs mop-up decreases in Dec

Customs collection dipped for the first time in this fiscal year during December 2005, standing at Rs 5,453 crore compared with Rs 5,490 crore during the same month a year ago, showing a marginal decline of 0.68 per cent.

Finance ministry officials said the lower mop-up was mainly due to a decline in collection in two zones "" Mumbai I and Visakhapatnam.

"We are trying to ascertain the reasons for the lower collection in the two zones. However, based on preliminary assessment, the lower mop-up in the two zones can be due to local factors such as outflow on account of export promotion schemes," an official said.

Officials pointed out that the marginal dip in Customs collection in December did not reflect any trend and that the overall collection for the fiscal was expected to be around Rs 63,000 crore against an internal target of Rs 60,000 crore.

According to an official release, the indirect tax collection during December 2005 was Rs 16,837 crore, showing an increase of 12.52 per cent over the corresponding month last year.

During the month, excise collection registered an increase of 17.6 per cent to Rs 9,628 crore. There was also an increase of 36.4 per cent in service tax collection, which stood at Rs 1756 crore.

Revenue collection from indirect showed an increased of 5.73 per cent during April-December 2005 over the corresponding period last year. Of this, collection from Customs and excise showed an increase of 15.78 per cent and 9.64 per cent, respectively.

The collection from service tax showed an increase of 65.41 per cent.